Manchester United got a good start to retaining their Champions League Title with a 1-0 win over Arsenal at Old Trafford on April 29th.  United came out with guns blazing and should have had a 3-0 lead by halftime, but John O’Shea was the only one who wasn’t firing blanks and scored the winner in the 17th minute.  If it wasn’t for Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia’s great saves in the first half, especially on Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney, and Cristiano Ronaldo, then the second leg of this semi final might just have been a formality.

Thanks to Almunia, Arsenal are still in with a shout in the second leg next Tuesday. Ryan Giggs finally came on in the 67th minute in his 800th appearance for United and then promptly scored a beautiful goal, only to be ruled offside. United may regret not burying the Gunners when they had the chance. Things could be a little trickier down in London at the Emirates Stadium.

Not much else happening on the pitch until the weekend, so of course the biggest topic off the pitch is of course money. It seems the taxman in England is up to his old tricks again and is trying to soak more money out of the top moneymakers, such as footballers.

Chancellor Alistair Darling has recently revealed plans to jack the top rate of income tax up to 50 per cent for those who make over £150,000 a year.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes that any changes to the British tax system might stop foreign players from heading over to the English Premier League. And the fact the value of the English pound is sinking against the euro is also another concern as each club’s spending power has been significantly reduced.

When Wenger was asked if the English football leagues depended too much on foreign players, he said: “Don’t worry, that time will soon be over because with the new taxation system and with the collapse of sterling… the domination of the Premier League will end. The pound was at 1.45 or 1.60 (euros) at one stage…from one day to the next it will be a financial problem for all the English clubs.”

Birmingham City co-owner David Sullivan chirped in and told the Sunday Times he agreed with Wenger and predicted that England may soon suffer in the transfer market because of the low pound and tax situation. Sullivan added that players will likely seek higher salaries than they’re already making if they’re going to be losing more to the taxman.

Over in Spain, Real Madrid defender Pepe was force fed a 10-game suspension on the weekend for going berserk and kicking out at two Getafe players in a league match on April 21st. Pepe pushed Javier Casquero to the deck in the 88th minute and conceded a penalty. He then proceeded to kick him in the back and stamp on him a few times for good measure, just in case the ref missed anything. But he still wasn’t finished. Pepe then decided to drill Juan Angel Albin in the head with his fist and then insulted the fourth official while finally leaving the pitch.

Pepe got one game for the original foul, four for going bananas on Casquero, four more for the shot to the head of Albin and one for hurling insults at the official.

Pepe said he lost the plot because he thought giving away the penalty would cost his team a chance of winning their third straight league championship. Of course, to add a twist to the story, Casquero missed the penalty and Real’s Gonzalo Higuain scored in injury time to pull a 3-2 win. If only Pepe would have known.